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Red Sox Review: Evaluating the first third of the 2018 season

By Rick McNair

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 05: Members of the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays stand for the national anthem before the Red Sox home opening game at Fenway Park on April 5, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 05: Members of the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays stand for the national anthem before the Red Sox home opening game at Fenway Park on April 5, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – MAY 14: Carson Smith #39 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after Khris Davis #2 of the Oakland Athletics hit a home run during the eighth inning at Fenway Park on May 14, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – MAY 14: Carson Smith #39 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after Khris Davis #2 of the Oakland Athletics hit a home run during the eighth inning at Fenway Park on May 14, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Outlook – The Negative

The hitting will continue.  Even the recent short-term absence of Betts had no appreciable impact. Martinez has a significant injury history and that cannot be discounted. Pedroia is now 34-years-old recovering from knee surgery and his performance will be monitored.

Every pitcher is one throw away from a rite of passage – Tommy John surgery. Price has had a few issues and Pomeranz even more.  Both have experienced elbow conditions the last two seasons. Smith may be done and so may Thornburg.

Devers is a worry with his offense as he looks lost far more often than 2017. The occasional home run is broken up by a series of questionable swings. Seems that Devers is experiencing his AAA development at the MLB level. You can excuse a low average and production with slick fielding. That leaves out Devers.

Is the wait over for Jackie Bradley? JBJ went 50 games before his bat came out of hibernation. And that means it will soon have another visit to waving away at anything close to the plate. Players slump and players get hot, but JBJ has it down to an art form.

Thankfully Sandy Leon has suddenly found the same level of success he had in 2016.   The catchers have been a lineup black hole until recently, but what about Vazquez? Vaz hit .290 in 2017 and the conclusion was 100+ games as a starter. Now he seems lost.

The Yankees are an issue. The best road to follow into the playoffs is to win a division and Boston has done that back-to-back. New York will be a roadblock and I can certainly build a case for the Yankees being the best team in the league and maybe baseball. They are that good.

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